Train for Ill and not for Good
by Livefox96
Summary: Harry potter is having horrible headaches the summer before the Quidditch World Cup, what do they have to do with the mysterious 'Cubi race and the mad plotting of the Fey? Grey!Creature!Harry. Little to no character bashing. Several OC's as befits something with characters from the first Dragon War. AU: Divergence year 4 Rewrite of story with same name: original removed


Tina awoke to the sensation of falling. It was distinctly falling, flying felt different from this uncontrolled tumble; Grace as opposed to sprawl. What was worse than the falling was the fact that her wings appeared to be useless in halting the rapid descent through the blackness. Glancing over her shoulders there was the familiar sight of her two dark purple wings against her crimson fur and beyond them shone the omnipresent darkness. As always for bed Tina wore a long night-shirt that fluttered gently in opposition to the rapid fall. Only her presence of mind allowed her to attempt to banish the apparent void; the light that flared up around her wings revealing hundreds of winged figures hurtling through the void around and askew from her; the clan mark of Shevan stood out on a few of the nearest Cubi but most were too far away to see much detail.

The light shed by the orb served both to heighten her suspicion and to send her mind into frenzied activity that the unwelcome awakening had not. Up until now Tina had half believed this to be some dreamscape concocted by one of her fellow clan members but the reality of the scene before her was impressed into her mind by the abundance of minor details that could not have been woven into a simple dream. The gleam of Merleen's golden fur in the half-light, the subtle blue sheen on Taborlin's feathers and the unmistakable sound of Freya snoring were all too real to be ignored as visions of a perturbed mind.

Taborlin stirred slightly as he twisted in midair so that Tina's light struck his face full on, confirming her suspicions; he had always been a light sleeper to such an extent that he had taken to ensorcelling his bedroom to block most light and noise besides the usual coterie of enchantments on the private dwelling of a professional spellcaster. He blinked blearily several times before he finally noticed what was going on and began to flail in the air with a piteous shriek; sending himself tumbling end over end in a twisting ball of arms legs and wings. Eventually he calmed down as he saw that others were beginning to wake up in turn; some taking the fall stoically although they were the vast minority. A few drew what weapons they held upon their person even unto sleep and some even began reciting words of power that set the darkness ablaze with wave after wave of inquisitive magics that revealed nothing to their casters. The moment Tina had woken up her own, passive magics had informed her that there was nothing to be sensed; and that was perhaps the most worrisome conclusion that Tina could have come to. Because it appeared that the entire clan had been taken from the village and from the rest of the world apparently; the dragons would have killed them all in their sleep instead of taking them, but who or whatever had taken them was obviously on the same level of power as the dragons. Either the Weres had decided to finally make their move, although it was doubtful that they had finally gotten over their collective fear of action or undergone the preparations it would have taken. That left the Fey or one of the outsiders that lurked around the fringes of reality; of the two Tina would have put all her money on the Fey as the outsiders usually preyed on the unwary. This simply didn't feel like the sort of stunt they'd pull; dragging an entire clan to a single area was just foolhardy.

This prediction was verified as a series of figures appeared from thin air; stepping through a shining portal that closed theatrically behind them. Even from that gesture Tina was sure that it was indeed the Fey, their race were almost as theatrical as the Cubi themselves. Had the Fey wanted to they could have appeared without a whisper and vanish in such a way that made the casual watcher question the fact that they had ever been there. On the other hand they preferred to mask this overwhelming competence behind a veil of silly tricks and fixations. One of the Fey was even wearing a coiled copper dress, the metal glinting beautifully in the reflected magelight. And then the butterfly wings and antennae confirmed to the watching crowd that it was in fact the Fey; no one had even been able to get a straight answer as to what was going on with those two universal symbols of the Fey.

A figure cloaked in magical darkness approached; the features and patterns of the body and face remaining a mask of shadows, hidden from sight behind a mask of magic that made Tina's eyes water.

"You are Tina Shevan yes?" the figure spoke in a musical midrange; unidentifiable as male or female.

Suddenly startled out of her revery Tina sprawled out for a few moments before responding "I am, but you rather have me at the disadvantage"

"You would not know my name, rest assured I mean you no harm; but I am afraid that you will have to take my word on that for the moment"

Tina let out a sigh "You understand that I don't like taking anyone on their word. Words are just that, anyone can speak and few carry through on their promise. At least give me one reason I should trust you"

"Well if you didn't then you and every one of the fey here would be dead for starters; as much as I hate cliches"

At that Tina let out a small shudder, as if sensing her worry the fey added "Not the true death, but you'd be dead nonetheless and that would rather muck up several layers of plotting. I know that we normally stay out of the conflicts of your world but you and your clan have presented us with a rather great opportunity. You may consider this as our good deed for the century"

Tina snorted "You multidimensional beings are all the same, dancing around the point while trying to confuse the rest of us. So tell me; what exactly do you have in mind for the clan?"

"Your fate has already been decided. To leave you on Furrae would be disastrous, all of your kind present here would be dead within the decade; that result is distasteful. As to keeping you in a constructed universe, the sanity of all present would suffer. There is only one viable alternative."

"You would leave us in a branched universe?"

""It is the bargain between your leaders and the Fey, you will remain in the dimension we provide for you until such a time that the specified conditions are fulfilled and we save the Cubi present from their predicted demise during the Dragon-Cubi war."

"Specified conditions" Tina said "please tell me that it isn't a prophecy"

"It is indeed" The shadow replied "we thought it for the best"

"I suppose that you won't tell me what you're actually getting out of this? I mean, it's not impossible that you are doing this for completely altruistic reasons; but altruism would save us once, not set us aside for some purpose. There's some other motivation to this, but then again when you Fey let loose with your powers you typically play for the endgame; which in this case might stretch anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years off. Utilitarian reasoning at its finest if I might say so."

"It is the longest game, and one that would rather bore you; let me say now that we are playing not for your benefit but for our own amusement. Understand that to us the universe and indeed the multiverse is the most complicated game board ever devised, and the rules designed to prevent boredom amongst the infinity of time available to us."

"So we become pieces placed on the board, perhaps pawns to be sacrificed, perhaps the agile queen. Perhaps some piece that makes absolutely no sense and only gets to move in iterations of some irregular value"

"Mmm, I see that you understand on some level the nature of the games we play. So you must know that this move is a bold and expensive one; you will have millenia to gain knowledge and experience, time to prepare for the challenges facing you. Do not waste this time; use it to transcend your own nature and surprise those who think you dead and beyond the grasp of those who could revive you."

Floating away the fey spoke one last line "Be warned, the landing may hurt"

Tina puzzled at that for a moment before realizing that the fey were in motion. From all over the falling Cubi the Fey that had been conversing with them drifted downwards so that they rested below the mass. Forming a circle they began weaving their magic together in preparation for sending the Cubi across dimensions. Slowly a sphere of glowing magic formed around the falling Incubi and Succubi and a wave of pain passed across them. It hit Tina like a brick, pain wrapping around her like a cloak before abruptly ceasing as Tina slammed into the suddenly present ground. All around her Cubi hit the stone with a crunch, and then there was darkness.

She was pressed further into the grey stone by a couple of Cubi landing directly on top of her. Tina was amongst the first to get over the shock of landing; pushing herself to her feet with graceless efficiency and managing to get out from beneath the pile. As Tina reached her feet a stack of books appeared in front of her; the contents of her bookshelves at home plus a number of large leather bound books with unfamiliar titles. Amongst the ones she did not recognise two stood out as being the most useful; one book on basic tool making while the other was on geography.

Tina took a moment to examine the cave that the gateway had connected to, solid walls of stone circled the cavern but what really caught her attention was the physical manifestation of the path between worlds. Set against one wall of the smooth cavern stood a gigantic stone archway; obviously designed to serve as a conduit between dimensions. Beneath Tina's inexperienced eyes, until now she had had no interest in runes, the doorway was aesthetically pleasing; each rune positioned so that functionality was equally balanced by form. It was obvious that the gateway was once filled with energy, however that fact was contrasted against the reality of the current situation. Standing next to the gateway Tina felt rather than saw Shevan herself; actual body present instead of it being an avatar.

Gasping in surprise Tina gathered up her books in her otherspace pocket and hurried over to where Shevan was standing in a triangle with two other Cubi. Her suspicions that they were the leaders of the other two clans were confirmed when she saw their third set of wings. Unsure of how the three would react to her approach Tina stepped forwards so that she was clearly visible from the plateau the gateway was stationed on. Shevan herself was much like Tina in appearance; red fur clashing against purple wings in a manner that almost made the interface appear blue. Catlike faces with eyes of a dark slate that looked out upon the world in a cool and calculating fashion. Next to Shevan stood a tall reptilian male with a strange pattern stretching across his scales; odd symmetrical patches of green and black that gleamed in the reflected magelight that almost every assembled Cubi had flaring around them. Hanging behind the group was a short grey female wolf with silver wings that seemed incongruous amongst the group of tri-wings but was probably the most powerful individual there.

Seeing Tina's reluctance Shevan beckoned her forwards to join the trio. "Glad to see you here, it has been a long time since we last talked Granddaughter; five-hundred years ago if I remember correctly."

"Ah, yes. It was for your first millennial birthday, quite nice party as well." Tina said, sensing how the conversation will go.

Grandmother had always done this sort of thing, acting completely stupid in public and dropping the mask in private. Everyone knew that she was doing it too, and Tina had a suspicion that Shevan knew that everyone knew it was an act. What her possible motives for it were Tina had been left in the dark and so had two options-one; play along-two; try to get Shevan to see sense. Tina thought that under these circumstances the second would be expedient.

"Grandmother, while this facade might have been of some use to you back on Furrae we are not there anymore. I need to know more information and you three are the only ones that might know it"

Shevan let out a long sigh before replying "Force of habit I suppose"

The other clan leaders shared a covert glance of relief.

"Thank you for that" the snake said in a pleasant bass "I am Abrin, of the clan Abrin. Normally I would add on a whole laundry list of titles and accolades onto that fact, but this is not such a time that we should stand on ceremony" he added, slithering forwards towards Tina. "My compatriot is Tarman, again of Clan Tarman. Speak your questions unto us and we might see them answered."

"What is the prophecy the Fey spoke of?"

"The lost Prince will come into his heritage as one of the people and regain his throne of books. That which is thought to be three, is four, will become five. He who flees will be faced with new knowledge. That which was once sacrificed will be regained and the death without dying reversed. The three will become four and stand before the ancient door, while the four of a beginning will regain their heritage and hold back that which opposes." the three chorused in time.

"Sounds like nonsense to me, but as with all prophecy I'm sure we'll look back on it and find it blindingly obvious." Tina sighed "Some things are obvious. The ancient door is that gateway over there, the death without dying is just mundane death as opposed to soul-death. Aside from that I have no idea what any of it means."

As the last Cubi got to their feet a desk appeared in a clear space. "RIght" Shevan said in response "We need to start getting everyone organized, what do you prefer; Clans separate or mixed?"

"As much as we once fought I think that we will need to start working together" Abrin replied "I think that we should each handle a separate branch of talents. Shevan, you take the thinkers, I'll take the craftsman, and Tarman can take the mages. Anyone belonging to more than one of those groups will be chosen by their strength in each area."

"Sounds good to me" Tarman replied as Shevan gave her assent.

Tina walked away as the three began negotiations over the best candidates from each Clan, already knowing that Shevan would get her.


End file.
